A Book that Changed My Life
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"I grew up Lutheran, went to church every week, and was involved in choir and youth group. I didn’t question the idea of God at all as a child. In college was the first time I really started thinking about it, and after taking New Testament, world religions, and Buddhism classes, I had thoroughly lost faith. Everything as far as believing in one all-powerful God made no sense to me. When I read the satanic bible, it was just a view on things that made more sense to me. It praises the virtues of exploring one’s own nature and instincts. God is not external entity, but rather something that each person creates as a true projection of his or her own personality, a benevolent and stabilizing force in his or her life. It’s not devil worship. Satanists reject the worship of external gods completely. Religion is viewed as a man-made construct and all are urged to question everything. Satan is viewed as a metaphor or a symbol, not as a being to be worshipped. The idea of prayer is rejected; instead the idea is to take action to fix a situation, instead of asking for a solution. When all religious faith in lies has diminished it is because man has become closer to himself and farther from God, thus closer to the devil. This book changed my life. HAIL SATAN. 666"
"Lewis Carroll's, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, was one of the few books that kept my full attention. When I was younger, I was the type of reader that would start reading great stories and lose interest in them quickly. With Alice though, the Adventures we would go on not only kept my full attention, but often times forced me to ask questions about myself and my own life. As I got older and continued to re-read Alice's Adventures, I started to have a deeper appreciation for the writing style of Mr. Carroll. His use of language through puns and creating new meanings for words already in the child's vocabulary. It has inspired me to concentrate on Language Arts, as well as the Sciences, while I get my degree in Elementary Education."
"Our leaders and mainstream media won’t tell the truth about climate change and we humans are dangerously close to extinction. What saddens me even more is that we are taking down other species with us as we cling to our addiction to fossil fuels and industrialized civilization. “The Road” is an important book to me because it addresses how one could be in uncertainty in a beautiful, non-sugarcoated way. It doesn't hide the reality of what we might face when there is no longer a habitat for us to survive. As we move through these uncertain times I feel it helpful to grieve, reflect, but also celebrate the joys found in each day. “The Road” touches on all of this, leading the reader through a sort of end-of-days meditation. I love how this book is poetic with a steady pace. One thing we are guaranteed in life is death. Regardless of the health of the environment we know our time is limited. Uncertainty is present everyday as we walk along our journey. This motivates me to live each moment like it could be my last. There is freedom when you can let go and learn from Mother Earth. We've been away from her far too long and it is time to listen."
"Don't Sweat the Small Stuff... And it's All Small Stuff," a book by Ph.D. Richard Carlson was one of the most perspective-altering books I've ever read. It was an easy read for a short-attention-span-having millennial like me because it was very to-the-point. Don't let the "Ph.D." fool you. Carlson sets a peaceful and inspiring tone while using simple words and phrases to motivate his reader. This book reminded me to look at things as they are, not as people often magnetize them to be. It's all small stuff. Don't sweat it.
"The Shining: I am still afraid of dark rooms, of leaves blowing across the sidewalk at night like a sudden whispering in your ear, of pitch black closets left ajar, and of the basement steps from my childhood home. I have Stephen King to thank for that. When we grow up we forget these fears and replace them with money, bosses, heating bills and grocery shopping. That kid in us that knew there was something to fear in what we couldn't see becomes quiet, muffled by responsibility. In a corner between silent back-room shelves of a public library Stephen King handed my childhood fears a megaphone and I owe him a decade of gratitude. We should be afraid of the dark and believe in haunted places."
I am most at home in books that ask for suspension of disbelief. All of my favorites reward me with glimpses of magic among the ordinary - the joy of unseen, absurd potential innate to the everyday-est object or circumstance. Calvino is a master of such magic. Here is a story of a boy from an 18th century noble family who decides one day at dinner, when he does not want to eat the snails he has been served, to climb up into the trees and live there forever. He succeeds beautifully. It is a fable of independence, yes, and youthful rebellion, but to me it is more about the possibility of living in trees. Imagine! Calvino did, and I am forever grateful.
“Randhurst: Suburban Chicago’s Grandest Shopping Center” was a book that changed my life because, well, I wrote it. Authoring a book was one of my life’s greatest experiences. Even in a history book, there is a magnitude of “agony and ecstasy” that comes with the creation of any piece of art. In addition to the work itself, the book produced a number of lasting lessons, both about writing and living, in the year and a half I spent creating it: Self-discipline does not come easy; Inspiration is very similar to a powerful drug – When you’re not on it, you may do questionable things to find it; It’s healthy to make bold claims and assertions, but you better have some factual, thoughtful evidence to back them up (I opted for just under 200 citations); Never think there is anything you could possibly write about that isn’t interesting; Finally, the hardest part of writing book is deciding on the first line. Write, and live, with no regrets. (Also, the internet is amazing resource, and Wikipedia can give you some great leads, I don’t care what your professor tells you). All in all, “Randhurst” taught me to look at seemingly superficial things in greater detail, and to analyze them critically. While a book about the history of shopping malls may seem laughable, I quickly found out that how, why, and where we shop, and what we buy, tells us a great deal about ourselves. …Now go to Amazon and buy my book!
"Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" . A book that warns us of what society may look like without thinkers and books. A scary realization to what society is becoming now, with technology and the banning of great literature. I remember my freshman year in High School, when my teacher said, 'The day that the government starts making you burn books, is the day you need to run. That's what Hitler did.'. I remember sitting there and thinking that was absurd and our government wouldn't do that. I also remember looking at that book and thinking, 'Great, another boring book' (basing it off its cover). Little did I know, after reading it and having that teacher make us understand it fully, it would be the beginning of my love for reading. As the years passed by, books have been diminishing--turning into a digital format, some are being banned for being too political, religious or radical and some are being hidden from everyone. Everything I read about was slowly becoming true. That book did more than change my view, it was an eye opener to the future. I just hope we don't let books become extinct. Last thing we need is history repeating itself, because there aren't any books "...to remind us what asses and fools we are."
"I grew up in a white neighborhood in Peoria, IL, went to white schools, and had mostly white friends. I am white, and as a child, I had the luxury of living life oblivious to my race. Although it was considered impolite, and perhaps even racist, to even talk about the issue, it didn’t prevent me from hearing many ignorant things over the years. “Did you hear about the black mom who named her kids Lemonjello and Oranjello?” “If he can afford such nice shoes, then why is he on welfare?” “Why don’t people just forget about slavery already? It was 150 years ago!” We can’t comprehend an issue as complicated as race through facts, theories, or statistics. It is only in listening to people’s stories that we can begin to understand history, recognize and challenge our own biases, and have empathy for others. In “Race: How Blacks and Whites Think and Feel About the American Obsession,” oral historian Studs Terkel has given us the opportunity to hear honest, painful, heartbreaking, unforgettable, powerful, true stories on the issue of race. Reading this book ten years ago completely changed my life. Now I see myself differently. I see others differently. I see the world differently. I am so grateful for my growing awareness."
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"Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism and the Future" by Jennifer Baumgardner. "One afternoon during my first months of college, my best friend asked, "Are we feminist?" We both shrugged our shoulders and didn't really know. We listed off the stereotypes we had been fed our whole lives: "But I shave my armpits.. But I like boys... But I wear makeup.." etc. We decided to read the 15 or so Gender/Woman Studies books in our dorm library, one of which was "Manifesta." I remember as I read, being so excited to know there were women that were saying all of these intelligent things that I agreed with, discussing experiences that I had shared, and stressing the importance of working diligently toward social equality. At the same time, I was disappointed that it had taken me so long to know the true "definition" of feminism, free from the stereotypes and negativity. Reading those books at such a formative time in my life made a huge difference in the way that I viewed myself and the world around me. I felt confident, empowered, and connected to a larger community of strong women. Feminism continues to impact all areas of my life today."
The Snowy Day By: Ezra Jack Keats "When I think back to the earliest days of my childhood so many of those memories include my dad and books. On our weekly trips to the library I could choose any 3 books I wanted, and surely there was always at least one Ezra Jack Keats book in my little pile. I loved them all, but The Snowy Day was my favorite. My dad must have read it to me hundreds of times, but I never tired of snuggling up next to him and listening to him make the crunch, crunch, crunch sounds as Peter’s feet sank into the snow. I received so many gifts from my dad, but one of the most important was the love of reading, and that love started with books like The Snowy Day." “Down fell the snow – plop!—on top of Peter’s head.”
"I was first acquainted with Death as a youth, but it wasn't until my teenage years that we really began to hit it off. I was attracted to the dark themes of gore and violence portrayed in music, film, and literature; I listened to metal, watched horror movies, and read true crime books. My lust for Death grew stronger after I completed an archaeology course on the subject during my last semester at University of Illinois. It was an overview of burial practices and funerary customs amongst different cultures throughout history. I continued reading on my own, and fell in love with Death to Dust by Kenneth Iserson. It covers a vast array of topics ranging from anatomical dissection to premature burial to necrophilia. Feeling enamored and wanting to further enhance my relationship with Death, I enrolled in a mortuary science college in Fall 2013 and accepted a job at a local funeral home. Working with the bereaved is rewarding, but the embalming aspect excites me the most. I seemingly cannot get enough of this; Death will always be my mistress."
"In the third year of my undergraduate education, I was introduced to 'Solid State Physics,' a book detailing the study of solids and the particles within them. Instead of reading yet another dry textbook, I found myself captivated by the complex dynamics of electrons in solids. The reasons behind the conduction of electricity in metals and the lack thereof in insulators became clear, and were far more complex that what I had naively expected. I found the subject so rich and fascinating that I devoted the next 7 years to studying it. I am currently obtaining my Ph.D. in Condensed Matter Physics, and I can safely say I would not be doing so had I not read that book so long ago."
"I remember when Scary Stories You Tell in the Dark came out as a child, they offered all three at my school’s library, but one could never check them out because of the looooong waiting list. They were the most popular books to read. Some of the stories stick with me to this day, my fear of spiders spawned from the tale of a girl who woke up with a spider egg hatching from a pimple in her cheek. My favorite memories come from reading the book with all the lights off in my grandfather’s attic. He lived on a farm in a small town with many vacant acres of land. At night when our parents would go out to burn trash, my cousin and I would cuddle up and terrify ourselves with the stories until we were both screaming and running around like chickens with their heads cut off. I akin my love for these books to the style of “Morbid Kitsch” I have created for myself over the years. As an adult I have a love for vintage monster music and enjoy djing in Milwaukee at my favorite bar Frank’s Power Plant. Today, my house is covered in vintage monster posters, taxidermy, clowns, oddities, and I believe that my weird love for the unusual would never have existed, if it wasn’t for that little girl picking up Scary Stories You Tell in the Dark."
